Blister card packages are commonly used to enclose and store individual dosage forms for the consumer. Ideally, these packages must be easy to use for adults, protective for the product and difficult for children to open. Typically, the card package consists of a top sheet (or container sheet), which has integrally-formed blisters or cavities designed to hold the contents, for example pharmaceutical dosage forms. The top sheet is sealed around the periphery of each blister unit to a closure sheet (or lidding), which normally consists of a multi-layered laminate foil. In some blister card packages the dosage is accessed by pressing it through the closure sheet, where the closure sheet is made of a rupturable material. In other card packages, the closure sheet is peeled off from the top sheet to release the blister contents. Prior art blister card packages also provide for packages with perforations between separable blister units and unsealed areas between the container sheet and the closure sheet. The perforations provide for a line of weakening which allows the card to bend along the line of weakening and separate each individual blister unit. Usually, the individual unit must be removed to have access to the blister content. U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,618 discloses a child-resistant blister package wherein each individual package is defined by lines of weakening terminating short of the edge of the blister package and is provided with a tear strip defined by an additional line of weakening. After removal of the tear strip an unsealed corner region is exposed, which can be grasped and pulled allowing the separation of the closure sheet from the container sheet and the access to the formulation dosage. U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,505 discloses a blister card package with cut out areas exposing an area of the closure sheet at the intersection of the lines of weakening. After detachment of one individual dosage blister the area of exposed closure sheet forms a finger tab that when pulled separates the closure sheet from the container sheet allowing access to the content of the blister cavity.
The present invention was developed to provide a blister card package that is child-resistant and that can be easily opened by an instructed adult who is able to follow the instructions. The present invention includes easy to access pull tabs and no interruptions in the container sheet to ensure protection of the contents.